Visual Thinking


Rudolf Arnheim



OneEarly Stirrings1

Perception torn from thinking



TwoThe Intelligence of Perception(i)13

Perception as cognition.



ThreeThe Intelligence of Perception(ii)37

Subtracting the context.



FourTwo and Two Together54

Relations depend on structure.



FiveThe Past in the Present80

Forces acting on memory.



SixThe Images of Thought97

What are mental images like?



SevenConcepts Take Shape116

Abstract gestures.



EightPictures, Symbols, and Signs135

The functions of images.



NineWhat Abstraction Is Not153

A harmful dichotomy.



TenWhat Abstraction Is153

Types and containers.



ElevenWith Feet on the Ground188

Abstraction as withdrawl.



TwelveThinking With Pure Shapes208

Numbers reflect life.



ThirteenWords in Their Place226

Can one think in words?



FourteenArt and Thought254

Thinking in children's drawings.



FifteenModels for Theory274

Cosmological shapes.



SixteenVision in Education294

What is art for?



Notes 317
Bibliogaraphy 325
Index 339